Firearmcartridge magazine having mechanism for low-friction cartridge orienting and guiding

ABSTRACT

A cartridge magazine for firearms having internal lateral guide ridges of dimensions for establishing lateral guiding engagement with cartridges within the magazine chamber and having longitudinal internal guide ridges projecting inwardly from said side panels. The internal longitudinal guide ridges establish low friction essentially line contact with the uppermost cartridge and establish low friction forward charging movement of the uppermost cartridge from the cartridge magazine during firearm loading. The cartridge magazine is preferably formed from a single piece of sheet metal stock and is die folded and die formed to define external depressions and internal low friction cartridge guide ridges for lateral guiding of cartridge movement within the magazine and forward guiding movement of cartridges as they are dispensed from the magazine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to firearms and moreparticularly to firearms that employ cartridges that are fed from amagazine to the cartridge chamber of a firearm barrel. Even morespecifically the present invention concerns a cartridge magazine thatemploys features for low friction guiding of cartridges being moved froma magazine into the cartridge chamber of the firearm. The presentinvention generally concerns a metal cartridge magazine that is formedfrom sheet metal stock and defines inwardly projecting cartridge guideridges that conform to the angular geometry of the cartridge cases serveto establish low-friction orienting and guiding of cartridges as theyare moved from the cartridge magazine toward the cartridge chamber of afirearm barrel. These cartridge guide ridges also permit ease of loadingcartridges into the magazine.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Cartridge containing magazines composed of sheet metal components havebeen manufactured and used for many years. During the manufacturingprocess sheet metal stock is formed to a generally rectangularcross-sectional configuration by sheet metal dies. The resultingmagazine structure is strategically deformed to define opposed sidepanels and forward and rearward end panels. The sheet metal of themagazine is deformed by the dies to provide for strengthening of theside panel portions of magazine structure and to establish inwardlyprojecting generally parallel guide ridges that are of designed depthand configuration to be engaged by specific surface portions of thecartridges to guide the alternating serially stacked cartridges duringspring urged movement thereof within the magazine structure as thefiring operation of a firearm progresses.

The rearmost end panel of a conventional sheet metal cartridge magazineis deformed by the dies to define an outwardly and rearwardly projectingguide member that extends from the bottom of the rear end panel to aregion near the top of the rear end panel and serves to guide thecartridge magazine during its insertion into the magazine receptacle ofa firearm. The outwardly and rearwardly projecting guide member alsodefines a generally rectangular internal guide channel that receives aguided portion of a cartridge follower and serves to guide spring urgedmovement of the cartridge follower within the magazine as cartridges areserially dispensed from the magazine to the cartridge chamber of thebarrel during firing.

One of the side panels of the standard cartridge magazine is deformed todefine a magazine lock opening and boss that interacts with the magazinereceptacle of a firearm receiver to secure the magazine within themagazine receptacle until such time as it is unlocked by actuation of amagazine release button. Typically, within a conventional cartridgemagazine is positioned a magazine spring having generally rectangularshaped coils. In magazines designed for feeding an offset double stackof cartridges a cartridge follower is typically mounted to the upper endof the magazine spring and has cartridge support and orienting surfacesof differing elevation so that each stack of cartridges is efficientlysupported during alternating feeding of cartridges from each of theoffset cartridge stacks.

The side panels of most metal cartridge magazines are typically deformedin such manner as to define a plurality of generally parallel internalcartridge guide ridges which are each of proper dimension andorientation for guiding engagement with specific portions of the doublestack of cartridges within the magazine. Opposed lateral cartridge guideridges of the cartridge side panels are positioned for contact by thebullets of the cartridges while other guide ridges are positioned forcontact by various portions of the cartridges within the magazine. Theinternal cartridge guide ridges each have a rounded cartridge engagingsurface and the cartridges have a circular cross-sectional configurationand are oriented transversely in relation with the rounded cartridgeengaging surfaces. The opposed cartridge guide ridges are spaced so asto ensure maintenance of the double offset stack of cartridges so thateach of the cartridges of the stack maintains a predeterminedefficiently controlled relationship with the other cartridges so thatefficient lateral cartridge movement occurs within the magazine duringfiring activity. This feature is particularly important when a firearmis being used for automatic firing. The parallel internal ridgearrangement causes each of the cartridges within the magazine to haveessentially point contact with the rounded guide surfaces of the guideridges during lateral cartridge movement within the magazine, thusminimizing frictional resistance to spring urged cartridge movement.This feature ensures that each cartridge being stripped from themagazine during charging of cartridges into the cartridge chamber of afirearm barrel is immediately replaced by a succeeding cartridge fromone of the double stacks of cartridges.

The upper portion of a cartridge magazine of the character describedabove is provided with oppositely and inwardly curved cartridge case andrim guide flanges that define a cartridge loading slot between them. Theoppositely and inwardly curved cartridge case and rim guide flanges haveend edges disposed in sufficiently spaced relation so that a singlecartridge can be easily moved laterally through the cartridge loadingslot to facilitate loading of cartridges into the magazine.Additionally, the side panels of the cartridge magazine each definecartridge orienting tabs that project laterally toward one another anddefines a rounded corner and a cartridge guide edge that are engaged bythe tapered front shoulder portion of a cartridge case as the cartridgeis driven forwardly toward the cartridge chamber of the firearm barrelby the bolt mechanism of the firearm. Each of the cartridge orientingtabs is of a dimension so that it serves to guide and orient a cartridgebeing moved toward the cartridge chamber.

There is a current need, especially in the field of tactical firearms,to provide a cartridge magazine mechanism having lateral and linearinternal guide ridges that cooperatively minimize the frictionalresistance to both lateral cartridge stack movement within the magazineand forward cartridge feeding movement as the cartridges areindividually extracted from the magazine by forward movement of the boltmechanism. This need is desirable to minimize the cartridge mis-feedsthat typically take place when an automatic or semi-automatic firearm isextensively used, such as in the case of tactical firearm use bymilitary or law enforcement personnel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a principal feature of the present invention to provide a novelcartridge magazine that includes, in addition to internal substantiallyparallel internal cartridge lateral guide ribs, linear cartridge guideribs that facilitate ease of cartridge loading and ease of linearcartridge feeding movement during all sequences of firing.

It is another feature of the present invention to provide a novelcartridge magazine that is composed of formed sheet metal material thatis laser welded along the substantial entirety of a very smalloverlapping edge to form a generally rectangular box-like magazineconfiguration that is effectively resistant to metal separation even ifthe magazine should be subjected to forces tending to crush it.

It is another feature of the present invention to provide a novelcartridge magazine that is composed of formed sheet metal material thatis laser welded along the substantial entirety of a very smalloverlapping edge and wherein a portion of the laser weld is exposed anddefines an external guide shoulder of the external and external guidestructure of the magazine.

It is an even further feature of the present invention to provide anovel cartridge magazine that is composed of formed sheet metal materialthat is laser welded along the substantial entirety of a very smalloverlapping edge and establishes a substantially straight internalshoulder.

It is another feature of the present invention to provide a novelcartridge magazine having a follower member that defines an externalguide projection that is received within the internal guide slot orgroove of the magazine structure and also defines an external cut-outthat receives the substantially straight internal shoulder that isdefined by the overlapping laser welded edges of the formed metal sheetmaterial.

Briefly, the various objects and features of the present invention arerealized by providing a cartridge magazine for a firearm, the magazinebeing preferably composed of formed sheet metal material but may becomposed of other materials such as polymers or polymer-metal compositeswithin the spirit and scope of the present invention. For purposes ofsimplicity this invention is discussed herein particularly as itconcerns a cartridge magazine that is composed of formed sheet metalmaterial. The sheet material from which the magazine is formed definesopposed side panels and opposed front and rear end panels that arearranged to form a box-like magazine structure of generally rectangularconfiguration, with the side panels being sufficiently spaced to permitdouble overlapping stacks of cartridges to be loaded within anddispensed from the magazine. The front end panel is defined by aU-shaped fold in the sheet material and is integral with the sidepanels. The rear end panel is formed to define substantially straightinternal and external guide features that guide movement of the magazineinto a magazine receptacle of a firearm and to guide movement of afollower member within the magazine during cartridge loading anddispensing. A portion of the rear end panel is defined by substantiallystraight edges of the sheet material that are laser welded along theentirety of the contact area of overlapping edges of the sheet material.The small overlapping laser welded edges of the sheet material forminternal guide features that match the configuration of a guideprojection of the follower member.

The side panels of the magazine structure are formed, such as by dieforming, to establish a plurality of internal lateral guide ridges thatserve to guide and minimize frictional resistance to lateral movement ofthe stacks of cartridges within the magazine chamber. The side panels ofthe magazine structure are further formed to define linearly orientedguide ridges that establish line contact with the cartridges andminimize frictional resistance and minimize resistance to bolt energizedcartridge movement from the magazine into the cartridge chamber of afirearm barrel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features, advantages andobjects of the present invention are attained and can be understood indetail, a more particular description of the invention, brieflysummarized above, may be had by reference to the preferred embodimentthereof which is illustrated in the appended drawings, which drawingsare incorporated as a part hereof.

It is to be noted however, that the appended drawings illustrate only atypical embodiment of this invention and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view showing the right side of a cartridgemagazine constructed according to the principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view showing the left side of the cartridgemagazine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevation view showing the upper portion of the left sideof the cartridge magazine of FIGS. 1 and 2 and showing the spacedlaterally oriented depressions of the upper portions of the side panelsthat establish the internal laterally oriented cartridge guide ridges ofthe magazine structure;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and showingthe lateral guided relationship of a double offset stack of cartridgeswith internal guide ridges of the cartridge magazine;

FIG. 4 a is a sectional view taken along line 4 a-4 a of FIG. 3 andshowing internal laterally oriented cartridge guide ridges that minimizefrictional resistance to cartridge movement;

FIG. 5 is an elevation view showing the rear end wall of the cartridgemagazine of FIGS. 1 and 2 and further showing double offset stacks ofcartridges being present within the magazine;

FIG. 6 is an elevation view showing the upper part of the magazine ofthe present invention and illustrating orienting and guiding contact ofthe uppermost cartridge with internal linear cartridge guide ridges ofthe upper right side portion of the cartridge magazine;

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the cartridge magazine of FIGS. 1-6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the cartridge magazine of the presentinvention, showing a spring urged follower within the cartridgemagazine;

FIG. 9 is an isometric illustration showing the cartridge follower and aportion of the spring that continuously applies spring force to thefollower to move the cartridge stacks laterally within the cartridgemagazine;

FIG. 10 is a partial plan view showing the relationship of a guideprojection of the follower with respect to an internal guide channel ofthe rear end wall structure of the cartridge magazine; and

FIG. 11 is a partial plan view of the follower member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings and first to the elevation view of FIGS.1-4, generally at 10 there is shown a cartridge magazine for a firearm,typically a semi-automatic or automatic firearm, the magazine preferablybeing formed from sheet metal stock and having a right side panel 12, aleft side panel 14, a front end panel 16 and a rear end panel 18. Theleft side panel, as shown in FIG. 2 defines a latch opening 15 and alatch projection 17 that permit a latch mechanism within the magazinereceptacle of the firearm to secure the magazine within the magazinereceptacle of the firearm and to be released and removed from themagazine receptacle simply by pressing a magazine latch release button.It should be borne in mind however, that the magazine structure may becomposed of materials other than sheet metal, such as any suitablepolymer or polymer composite or other material that is sufficiently thinto form a cartridge magazine and is sufficiently durable to effectivelywithstand typical magazine use in field conditions and remainserviceable, especially during tactical operations. It is appropriatethat such magazines also be of sufficiently low cost that they can bediscarded or become lost and become replaced, especially during tacticaloperations.

The geometry of the right and left side panels are preferablysubstantial mirror images of one another as is evident in the variousFigures of the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 the right side panel12 is deformed, such as by metal forming dies, a press or a mold todefine a plurality of inwardly directed substantially parallel grooves20, 22, 24 and 26 that serve collectively to accomplish guiding oflateral cartridge movement within the magazine during magazine loadingand during spring urged lateral cartridge stack movement during firingoperations. The depressions forming the generally parallel inwardlydirected grooves 20-26 also form internal cartridge guide ridges 20 a-26a that have essentially point-to-point engagement with each of thecartridges of one of the stacks of cartridges within the magazine, thusminimizing the frictional resistance to lateral cartridge movementwithin the magazine. The generally parallel inwardly directed groovesare each of a predetermined depth so that the resulting internal guideridges 20 a-26 a are positioned for lateral guiding contact byparticular parts of each of the individual cartridges within themagazine. For example internal guide ridge 20 a that is formed bydisplacement of side wall material to form inwardly directed groove 20is contacted by the rear end portion of the tapered cartridge case of acartridge C while internal guide ridge 22 a is contacted by anintermediate portion of the tapered cartridge case. Internal guide ridge24 a is contacted by the forward end portion of the tapered cartridgecase body. The internal guide ridges 20 a, 22 a, 24 a and 26 a havedifferent spacing with respect to the center-line of a cartridge case,so as to accommodate the tapered configuration of the body portion ofthe cartridge case and to efficiently guide lateral movement of thecartridges within the magazine. Internal guide ridge 26 a is spaced withrespect to the center-line of a cartridge case, so as to be contacted bythe neck N of the cartridge case adjacent the rearmost exposed portionof the bullet of the cartridge. The internal guide ridges 20 a, 22 a, 24a and 26 a of each of the side panels ensure efficient low-frictionresistance to lateral movement of the offset stacks of cartridges withinthe cartridge magazine.

As is evident from FIGS. 4, 8 and 9 a cartridge follower member 28 islinearly moveable within the internal chamber 30 of the magazine and iscontinuously urged upwardly by a compression spring 32 that has an upperspring portion that is received by an opening of the follower member, soas to mount the follower member 28 to the upper end portion of thecompression spring. To establish an offset relation to the double stacksof cartridges within the magazine the follower is provided with anupwardly projecting cartridge orienting boss 36 of generally arcuatecross-sectional configuration which defines an inclined cartridgeguiding surface 38. The cartridge follower member 28 defines dependingguide flanges 40 and 42 at the front and rear ends thereof as shown inFIG. 9 which establish guiding and proper orientation of the cartridgefollower member with respect to the internal surfaces of the front 16and rear 18 wall panels of the cartridge magazine. Additionally, thecartridge follower member 28 also defines a rearwardly projectingfollower guide member 44 that engages within an internal guide slot 46that is defined by a rearwardly projecting wall portion 48 of the rearend wall panel 18 of the cartridge magazine body. The rearwardlyprojecting wall portion 48 has a very small edge portion that overlaps asmall edge portion 50 of a rearwardly projecting wall portion 52 that isformed integrally with the side wall panel 12. These small overlappingedges are laser welded along their lengths and form an internalthickened region 53 within the guide channel or slot 46. The followerguide member 44 defines an external corner recess 54 extendingdownwardly along the length of the follower guide member and whichaccommodates the internal thickened region that is formed by the laserweld of the overlapping edges. Laser welding of these small overlappingedges creates a much stronger magazine wall structure as compared tospot welding of overlapping panel wall sections as has been done in thepast. Moreover, the laser welded seam of the overlapping edgespositively ensures against migration of water, dust and other debristhrough the edge joint.

The lower end portion of the compression spring 32 engages a bottomclosure plate member 56 that is secured to the side and end walls of thecartridge magazine by a plurality of retainer tabs 58 that are alsoformed from the sheet metal or other suitable stock of the cartridgemagazine body. The bottom closure plate member 56 is also formed, suchas by stamping and die forming from sheet stock. An internal elongatespring depression is defined by a downwardly projecting portion 58 ofthe bottom closure plate member and is of a dimension and configurationreceiving and stabilizing the lower end of the compression spring 32.This feature minimized the potential for shifting of the lower end ofthe compression spring as the geometry of the spring is changed byupward or downward follower movement during cartridge dispensing andduring loading of cartridges into the magazine. The bottom closure platemember, as shown in FIG. 7 is formed to define an elongate downwardlyextending wall section 62 that defines an elongate internal springstabilizing recess within which an end portion of the lower coil of thecompression spring 32 is received to further stabilize the lower end ofthe compression spring against substantial lateral movement within themagazine chamber. The bottom or closure plate 56 is also formed bycutting and material displacement to define upwardly extendingpositioning or stop members 64 and 66 which engage the lower internalsurface of the rear wall panel 18. The forward end of the bottom orclosure plate 56 defines a shallow notch 68 which received a centrallyoriented plate locating stop member 70 that serves to prevent forwardmovement of the bottom or closure plate 56 relative to the front wallpanel 16 of the magazine body structure.

As mentioned above it is necessary that the frictional resistance toforward cartridge movement relative to the magazine body structure andthe follower be minimized as much as possible to prevent impropercartridge feeding and cartridge jamming during operation of asemi-automatic or automatic firearm. At the upper ends of each of theside panels 12 and 14 are provided inwardly curved cartridge guide andretainer sections 72 and 74 that are disposed in spaced relation. Thecartridge guide and retainer sections 72 and 74 retain the stacks ofcartridges within the magazine chamber and guide the rear end or rimportion of the cartridges as they are engaged by the forwardly movingbolt of a firearm and moved forwardly into the cartridge chamber of thebarrel of the firearm. During this bolt induced forward cartridgemovement, cartridge orienting tabs 76 and 78 one of the cartridgeorienting tabs is engaged by the bullet B of the cartridge and causesthe cartridge to begin lateral orientation movement toward thecenter-line of the cartridge magazine. As the cartridge is move furtherforward a forward facing tapered surface 80 of the cartridge engages therespective cartridge orienting tab and causes further lateralorientation of the cartridge so that the forward end of the bullet ofthe cartridge becomes aligned with the cartridge chamber of the firearmbarrel.

Frictional resistance to forward cartridge movement within the magazineresults from movement of the cartridge while in engagement with thefollower member 28, the guide ridges within the side walls, thecartridge guide and retainer sections 72 or 74 and the respectivecartridge orienting tab. If the frictional resistance to cartridgemovement is sufficiently high the spring force being applied to the boltmember can be insufficient to move the cartridge along its intended pathinto the cartridge chamber of the barrel. In the event this conditionshould occur the cartridge can become sufficiently angulated ormisaligned that it will not enter the cartridge chamber. In this casethe cartridge can become jammed and prevent loading of the cartridge andprevent complete closure and locking of the bolt mechanism of thefirearm. According to an important feature of the present invention theside panels of the cartridge magazine are further formed with laterallyoriented external depressions 82 and 84 that may extend from respective.The laterally oriented external depressions 82 and 84 define laterallyoriented internal guide ridges 86 and 88 that may be tapered to matchthe taper of the cartridge case of a cartridge. Thus, the definelaterally oriented internal guide ridges 86 and 88 have essentially linecontact with the cartridge case and serve to minimize the frictionalresistance between the cartridge case and the side walls of thecartridge magazine.

When a cartridge magazine of the present invention is latched within themagazine receptacle of a firearm a single cartridge of the double offsetstacks of cartridges will be located at the loading position inreadiness to be fed from the magazine and transported into the cartridgechamber of a firearm barrel by spring urged forward movement of a boltmechanism. The leading cartridge will have essentially line or pointcontact with the laterally oriented internal guide ridges 86 and 88 andwill be properly oriented for dispensing from the magazine to thecartridge chamber. The inwardly curved cartridge guide and retainersections of the upper portions of the side panels 14 or 14, depending onthe position of the leading cartridge, will have retaining and guidingrelation with the cartridge case, especially the rear portion and rim ofthe cartridge case. Assuming that the bolt mechanism of the firearm isat its rearmost or retracted position, either by having fired a previouscartridge or round of ammunition or having been manually moved to itsrearmost or retracted position, the force of a bolt return spring willdrive the bolt mechanism forward. During a portion of this forwardmovement the bolt mechanism will contact the rear or rim portion of theleading cartridge and will move the cartridge forwardly, stripping itfrom the magazine and propelling it toward the cartridge chamber of thefirearm barrel. During this forward cartridge movement the cartridgewill be guided and oriented by the laterally oriented internal guideridges 86 and 88, having minimal area of contact with the cartridge willhave minimal frictional resistance to forward movement of the cartridgeby the bolt mechanism. The lateral orientation of the guide ridges 86and 88 will permit the condition of low frictional resistance to besubstantially continuously maintained during cartridge movement from themagazine. This low frictional resistance ensures that bolt return springinduced forward movement of the bolt mechanism will not be impeded andfurther ensures against the possibility that the cartridge can becomemisaligned during its bolt induced forward travel from the magazine tothe cartridge chamber.

In view of the foregoing it is evident that the present invention is onewell adapted to attain all of the objects and features hereinabove setforth, together with other objects and features which are inherent inthe apparatus disclosed herein.

As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the presentinvention may easily be produced in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The presentembodiment is, therefore, to be considered as merely illustrative andnot restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theclaims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which comewithin the meaning and range of equivalence of the claims are thereforeintended to be embraced therein.

1. A cartridge magazine for firearms, comprising: a magazine body ofgenerally rectangular cross-sectional configuration having opposed sidepanels and opposed front and rear end panels defining a cartridgechamber; a follower member being moveable within said cartridge chamber;an urging member within said cartridge chamber applying force to saidfollower member and any cartridges being movably supported by saidfollower member; cartridge retainer members being located at upperportions of said side panels and retaining stacks of cartridges withinsaid cartridge chamber and positioning an uppermost cartridge forloading engagement by a firearm bolt member upon forward movementthereof; a plurality of lateral guide ridges projecting inwardly fromeach of said side panels and guiding lateral movement of cartridgeswithin said cartridge chamber; and longitudinal internal guide ridgesprojecting inwardly from said side panels and having low frictioncontact with an uppermost cartridge and guiding forward chargingmovement of the uppermost cartridge during cartridge loading from saidcartridge magazine.
 2. The cartridge magazine of claim 1, comprising:said magazine body being formed of a single sheet metal stock; and edgesof said sheet metal stock being laser welded to define a single weldedseam.
 3. The cartridge magazine of claim 2, comprising: said side panelseach being die formed to define a plurality of elongate externaldepressions and a plurality of internal elongate guide ridges eachhaving a dimension for lateral guiding engagement with predeterminedportions of cartridges within said magazine chamber; and upper portionsof said side panels each being die formed to define a plurality ofelongate external lateral depressions and internal elongate lateralguide ridges being disposed in substantially normal relation with saidelongate external depressions.
 4. The cartridge magazine of claim 3,comprising: said internal elongate lateral guide ridges being locatedand oriented for minimal frictional substantially line or point contactby a side of a leading cartridge within said magazine chamber andensuring minimal frictional resistance to lateral cartridge movementduring bolt induced cartridge movement from said magazine.
 5. Thecartridge magazine of claim 1, comprising: said magazine body beingformed from a single sheet of metal stock and said side and end panelsbeing defined by substantially right angled bends of said sheet of metalstock; and edge portions of said sheet of metal stock being laser weldedalong the complete extent thereof and defining a sealed and structurallyenhanced edge joint preventing ingress of water and debris through saidedge joint.
 6. The cartridge magazine of claim 5, comprising: said edgeportions of said single sheet of metal stock being overlapped and whenlaser welded along the complete overlapped extent thereof defining athickened and impervious laser weld joint preventing ingress of waterand debris through said edge joint and increasing the structuralresistance of said magazine body to deformation by impacts.
 7. Thecartridge magazine of claim 1, comprising: an internal follower guidechannel being defined by said rear end panel; said thickened andimpervious laser weld joint defining an elongate shoulder located withinsaid internal follower guide channel extending substantially the entirelength of said overlapped edge portions of said sheet metal stock; and aguide projection extending from a rear portion said follower and beingreceived in moveable guided relation within said internal follower guidechannel, said guide projection defining an external recess within whichsaid elongate shoulder is located.
 8. A cartridge magazine for firearms,comprising: a magazine body of generally rectangular cross-sectionalconfiguration having opposed side panels and opposed front and rear endpanels defining a magazine chamber retaining cartridges within saidmagazine chamber and positioning an uppermost cartridge for loadingengagement by a firearm bolt member upon forward bolt movement; afollower member being moveable within said magazine chamber; an urgingmember within said magazine chamber continuously applying force to saidfollower member and to cartridges being movably supported by saidfollower member; opposed curved cartridge retainer members extendingfrom upper portions of said side panels and defining a spacetherebetween permitting cartridge insertion into said magazine chamberand defining an open ended channel through which a bolt member of afirearm is moveable to engage and strip a leading cartridge from saidmagazine; a plurality of substantially parallel cartridge guide ridgesprojecting inwardly from each of said side panels and guiding lateralmovement of cartridges within said cartridge chamber to a leadingcartridge position of said magazine; and internal cartridge loadingguide ridges projecting inwardly from upper portions of said side panelsand having low friction contact with a leading cartridge and guidingforward loading movement of the leading cartridge during bolt inducedcartridge loading from said cartridge magazine to a cartridge chamber ofa firearm barrel.
 9. The cartridge magazine of claim 8, comprising: saidmagazine body being formed of a single sheet metal stock; and edges ofsaid sheet metal stock being laser welded to define a single weldedseam.
 10. The cartridge magazine of claim 9, comprising: said sidepanels each being die formed to define a plurality of elongate externaldepressions and a plurality of internal elongate guide ridges eachhaving a dimension for lateral guiding engagement with predeterminedportions of cartridges within said magazine chamber; and upper portionsof said side panels each being die formed to define a plurality ofelongate external lateral depressions and internal elongate lateralguide ridges being disposed in substantially normal relation with saidelongate external depressions.
 11. The cartridge magazine of claim 10,comprising: said internal elongate lateral guide ridges being locatedand oriented for minimal frictional substantially line or point contactby a side of a leading cartridge within said magazine chamber andensuring minimal frictional resistance to lateral cartridge movementduring bolt induced cartridge movement from said magazine.
 12. Thecartridge magazine of claim 8, comprising: said magazine body beingformed from a single sheet of metal stock and said side and end panelsbeing defined by substantially right angled bends of said sheet of metalstock; and edge portions of said sheet of metal stock being laser weldedalong the complete extent thereof and defining a sealed and structurallyenhanced edge joint preventing ingress of water and debris through saidedge joint.
 13. The cartridge magazine of claim 12, comprising: saidedge portions of said single sheet of metal stock being overlapped andwhen laser welded along the complete overlapped extent thereof defininga thickened and impervious laser weld joint preventing ingress of waterand debris through said edge joint and increasing the structuralresistance of said magazine body to deformation by impacts.
 14. Thecartridge magazine of claim 8, comprising: an internal follower guidechannel being defined by said rear end panel; said thickened andimpervious laser weld joint defining an elongate shoulder located withinsaid internal follower guide channel extending substantially the entirelength of said overlapped edge portions of said sheet metal stock; and aguide projection extending from a rear portion said follower and beingreceived in moveable guided relation within said internal follower guidechannel, said guide projection defining an external recess within whichsaid elongate shoulder is located.